Matt 16:24 KJV
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Following Christ is a thing of choice, of desire and a decision that must be whole-hearted. It is not something that is done carelessly or frivolously. One may desire all the good things about Christ just as the disciples had done. They had seen many glorious things Christ had done; from the turning of the wine to the feeding of five thousand men with five loaves and two fishes; from the healing of the leper to raising up of Jairus’ daughter from the dead; from walking on the waters to ‘fish ATM.’ They had seen so much of the miraculous powers of Christ and these made him desirable to them. They had also seen his compassion, his fervent love for them, his mercifulness and gentleness. They had seen it all. There was nothing undesirable about this man of Galilee, Christ the Lord. But, now the Lord turned to His disciples and said to them, “If any man will come after me…”
The choice to follow is not in the power of the flesh but in the force of His overwhelming goodness. It is what we have tasted of Him that satisfies our souls to pitch our tent with Him. Peter declared, ‘To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life…’ Jn 6:68. It is out of the abundance of His grace and goodness that we are able to say, “Wherever you go I will go…” and not in our own determination. When we have realized that all we need is in Him, we are able to desire Him; to go with Him wherever He may lead. But that must first be decided.
This stage is experienced in different ways by different people. For some, it is the forgiveness of their sins and the peace Christ gave so that they can now call God Father; some it is the healing they received of a chronic health situation; some it is a miraculous intervention in an impossible situation; yet for others, it is the hope of eternal life through Christ Jesus received as a promise that has hooked them. The point is everyone who follows must have a reason for desiring Him. There is a basis for saying “I will come after you.”
To ‘come after’ signifies a walk or a journey together. Two people cannot go on a journey together unless they have both agreed to do so. There is something they have in common that is making it possible to travel together. But the journey with Jesus is not just an ordinary journey. It is a journey whereby God changes us into the likeness of Christ; it is a journey whereby we stand to represent Him and speak on His behalf; it is a journey where everything in us and about us must be prepared to serve His purpose alone. It is a journey though earth yet having heavenly objective and influence upon it.
But agreeing with Christ to be in the same way with Him is not by negotiation or 50:50 share. It is
about submitting to His own will. We are only able to follow Christ and achieve anything for Him only because we have submitted our own will to His. So, in following Christ, our opinion or desire or will is useless; it is Christ alone.
A true disciple then is one whose only desire is ” Thy will be done.” That is his statement and way. He has no other choice but this. He can only follow if it is Christ and no other. “Thy will be done” for him is not just a slogan, it is a heart that is totally yielded to the Lord; it is the condition of a heart that has Christ enthroned and ruling from there. This is what it means to ‘come after me’
The one who has agreed to this term of allowing Christ to rule and reign in His heart and control his life as He wills may struggle some times but he has no other way. If he must keep walking with the Lord, he has to keep saying ‘No’ to himself in other to do the will of God; he must bear the cross to walk in the way of the Lord and follow Christ in works.